Monday, June 13, 2016

WIRED UP - Vinyl Records, CDs and Books are Dead? Wrong!

Wired Up is new
boutique in Houston specializing in music, books and novelties. It is the
brainchild of three knowledgeable, enthusiastic veterans of the music scene.
With that being said, please tell how this venture all came together?Ryan- the beautiful thing about this partnership is Wired
Up, in some way, shape or form, has been a dream for all of us in different
ways. So we had signed the lease on cutthroat eastside, and were in the build
out phase when the wired up space became available. I initially thought it was
possibly too small but perfect for a new/first venture. I always had a dream of
owning a record/culture store that was sort of a hub/hangout for other fellow
weirdos but I had 0 experience with this kind of business other than being a
consumer. Every time I ran into Bucky around town he was talking about opening
his own shop but never had a location down. He was the first person I thought
about hitting up. All the while I had been hanging out with Toby and him and I
would sort of bullshit about eventually doing our own shop. I just never knew
how serious he was. After Bucky was on board I hit up Toby and he was 100%
down.

What’s your take on the so called
digital takeover of traditional music and book pressing?

Ryan- I think we're in this sort of beautiful period where
people are finally realizing a fucking download or words on a nook isn’t going
to cut it. People are wanting the physical packaging, the full experience again
and don’t want to cheat themselves of this anymore. It’s definitely still not
for everyone, but there is undeniably a movement of people who appreciate the
experience of the needle hitting the record and sitting on the floor looking at
the liner notes and packaging. The same with books, people like us want to hold
it, smell the pages, actually flip through it, bend it, check out the art
works, etc...

I know you recently opened and are
growing, but already you have a great selection of vinyl. What do you currently
stock and what do you plan to add?

Ryan- Shit that the 3 of us like. All 3 of us have had a
hand in ordering to make sure we have a diverse enough selection that best
represent us. We definitely plan on expanding; we're in the stage where all our
money is going back into ordering.

Houston has a great independent music scene and
some great record stores such as long standing entities Sound Exchange and
Vinal Edge. However, I feel the time is ripe for a new record store bringing in
fresh ideas. It will bring even more credibility to Houston. Your thoughts?

Ryan- On average, there are 300 people moving to the Houston area a day. This
is allowing places like Wired Up and Deep End to not only open in the same city
as Vinal Edge, Sound Exchange, Heights Vinyl, etc... but to be able to thrive,
which we all have the opportunity to

Keeping with the tradition of the late
Domy Books, you stock a plethora of unusual books covering many subjects. What
can a customer expect when looking through your printed matter section?
Ryan- titties

Also I cannot forget all the independent
and B-film Blue-Rays and DVDs you have. What criteria do you look for in
whether or not to carry a film? Also give some personal details of some of your
favorite films.
Ryan- I love our selection so far. People can expect a lot (titties) but
the one thing that we'll always sort of build and stock up on are music/sub/art
culture documentaries and b-movie/horror classics with some gore in there as
well.

Besides the store, a coffee shop will
soon reside in the front area, which will create a great atmosphere for coffee,
music and art. When will that be complete?
Ryan- January 2016 all 3 businesses will be running. Until then we will
actually be serving complimentary Greenway Coffee in Wired Up